| Political offices in the UK government |
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| List of political offices |
The parliamentary under-secretary of state (or just parliamentary secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) [1] is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister of State, which is itself junior to a Secretary of State. [2]
The Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975 provides that at any one time there can be no more than 83 paid ministers (not counting the Lord Chancellor, up to 3 law officers, and up to 22 whips). Of these, no more than 50 ministers can be paid the salary of a minister senior to a Parliamentary Secretary. Thus, if 50 senior ministers are appointed, the maximum number of paid Parliamentary Secretaries is 33. [3] [4]
The limit on the number of unpaid Parliamentary Secretaries is given by the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975, ensuring that no more than 95 government ministers of any kind can sit in the House of Commons at any one time; there is no upper bound to the number of unpaid ministers sitting in the House of Lords. [4] [5] [6]
The position should not be confused with the Permanent Secretary, which is the most senior civil servant in a government department (also known as the Permanent Under-Secretary of State), nor with a Parliamentary Private Secretary (an MP serving as an assistant to a minister entitled to directly relevant expenses but no further pay). [2] [7]
Of his tenure as an under-secretary in Macmillan's 1957–1963 Conservative government from the Lords, the Duke of Devonshire noted: "No one who hasn't been a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State has any conception of how unimportant a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State is". [8]
There are 44 Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State, of whom six are unpaid.
The current Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State are: [9]
The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, making the home secretary one of the most senior and influential ministers in the government. The incumbent is a statutory member of the British Cabinet and National Security Council.
The Home Office (HO), also known as the Home Department, is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for immigration, security, and law and order. As such, it is responsible for policing in England and Wales, fire and rescue services in England, Border Force, visas and immigration, and the Security Service (MI5). It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs, counterterrorism, and immigration. It was formerly responsible for His Majesty's Prison Service and the National Probation Service, but these have been transferred to the Ministry of Justice.
The minister of state for development, formerly the minister of state for development and Africa and the secretary of state for international development, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom.
The Government of the United Kingdom is divided into departments that each have responsibility, according to the government, for putting government policy into practice. There are currently 24 ministerial departments, 20 non-ministerial departments, and 422 agencies and other public bodies, for a total of 465 departments.
A parliamentary private secretary (PPS) is a member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a government minister or a shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the "eyes and ears" of the minister in the House of Commons.
Oliver Michael Robert Eden, 8th Baron Henley, 6th Baron Northington, is a British hereditary peer and politician, who is a Conservative member of the House of Lords. He has served in a number of ministerial positions in the governments of Margaret Thatcher, John Major, David Cameron and Theresa May, most recently as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Philip Alexander Hunt, Baron Hunt of Kings Heath, is a former health administrator and a Labour Co-operative member of the House of Lords who has served as Minister of State in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero since July 2024.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is headed by the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor. Its stated priorities are to reduce re-offending and protect the public, to provide access to justice, to increase confidence in the justice system, and to uphold people's civil liberties. The Secretary of State is the minister responsible to Parliament for the judiciary, the court system, prisons, and probation in England and Wales, with some additional UK-wide responsibilities, e.g., the UK Supreme Court and judicial appointments by the Crown. The department is also responsible for areas of constitutional policy not transferred in 2010 to the Deputy Prime Minister, human rights law, and information rights law across the UK.
John Derek Taylor, Baron Taylor of Holbeach, is a British Conservative politician and former Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords.
The government of the United Kingdom, officially His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government, is the central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The government is led by the prime minister who selects all the other ministers. The country has had a Labour government since 2024. The prime minister and his most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision-making committee, known as the Cabinet.
Nicholas Francis Markham, Baron Markham, is a member of the UK's upper house of parliament, The House of Lords. He was formerly a government junior minister [unpaid] at the UK's Department of Health and Social Care. Markham was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to the economy and government.
Lucy Jeanne Neville-Rolfe, Baroness Neville-Rolfe is a British businesswoman and politician who served as Minister of State at the Cabinet Office from September 2022 to July 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, she served in ministerial positions under prime ministers David Cameron, Theresa May, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak. In December 2021, she was appointed by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to lead the statutory review into the state pension age.
The Department for International Trade (DIT) was a department of the United Kingdom Government, from July 2016 to February 2023. It was responsible for striking and extending trade agreements between the United Kingdom and foreign countries, as well as for encouraging foreign investment and export trade.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales, often referred to simply as the Welsh Office Minister, is a junior ministerial post in the Government of the United Kingdom, supporting the Secretary of State for Wales.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Mental Health and Women's Health Strategy is a ministerial position within the Government of the United Kingdom, in charge of mental health and women's health policy.
A minister of state is a mid-tier minister of the Crown in the UK government.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Water and Rural Growth was a junior position in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the British government. The office was merged with the Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs in 2024.
Robert Peter Douglas-Miller, Baron Douglas-Miller, is a British landowner and life peer. He served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Biosecurity, Animal Health and Welfare from 2023 to 2024 in the Sunak ministry.
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